A Catapult Conundrum
by Stress2Impress
Summary: Brick and Anne Maria have just been sent hurtling from the catapult on Camp Wawanakwa. What happens when they land alone, but together in Lake Wawanakwa? Brick and Anne Maria friendship one-shot -Enjoy-


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Total Drama (obviously)

 **Authors note:** This is my first fanfiction, so hopefully it's not too bad. I know it's quite short, but that's because writing is a lot harder and more time-consuming than I thought. Anyway, I wasn't sure what to write, so I just picked something random; Anne Maria and Brick are my two favorite characters from the second cast, and I always wondered what happened to the competitors when they were eliminated. Without further ado, enjoy!

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The air was silent as the water swayed lazily under the glow of the moon. The surface of Lake Wawanakwa was painted in a glorious glow as it reflected the millions of stars in the crowded, luminescent sky.

Suddenly, the water rippled ferociously as two figures crash-landed into the water. Coughing and sputtering, Brick resurfaced after plummeting below, clad in his army shirt and cargo boots, as did Anne Maria a few seconds later, her pouf still as tall as it had been on dry land.

"Ugh, I can't believe Chris let me leave with that fake diamond, he is so getting da beatdown for dis!" Anne Maria sputtered, coughing water as she did, "And I have to be stuck with you in da middle of nowhere, where da heck even are we anyway?"

"We appear to be in Lake Wawanakwa, not far from the island." Brick replied thoughtfully.

"Well, it may as well be Antarctica with how cold it is!" She exclaimed as she shivered silently.

"I'm sure they'll send someone out to rescue us soon. Never leave a cadet behind, as I always say. Although, it is getting darker. What if they've forgotten about us? Maybe someone was meant to pick us up, but they can't see us in the dark. We could get eaten by sharks, or worse, m-m-mutant sharks!" He nervously stuttered, staring at the night sky.

"Oh stop being such a baby, if anything did try to eat us, I'm sure your face would scare them off," she laughed carelessly as Brick frowned, "I'm more worried about da cold." She cast her head towards the dim silhouette of the island, "If I catch hypo-whateva, I am so coming back to haunt Chris! You hear that Chris, you're a dead man!" she shouted as loud as she could to Chris, who couldn't hear her as he was fast asleep, dreaming of new ways to torture the teens.

"Well hopefully, my military training will be enough to keep us warm against the cold!" Brick said, trying not to shiver, "For a start, my Sergeant told us that if we're forced to live in the harshest conditions, then we should ensure that we cover every inch of ourselves with clothing, and to never get wet." Brick raised his head triumphantly, proud of himself for not only remembering what his Sargent had told him but also for teaching it to someone else. Though a second later, he suddenly realized that he had done neither of those things, "Oh dear…"

Anne Maria glared at Brick, "Yeah, real smart thinkin there soldier." She rolled her eyes at him dramatically.

Brick challenged her, "Well I don't see you trying to come up with any ideas! I guess the first thing we should accomplish is finding dry land." He looked around frantically while Anne Maria started filing her nails.

"Ugh, stupid water, it's makin my nails wet, I can't get any grip." She complained, "at least my hair's still as beautiful as always," she spotted something faint in the distance, "Hey, isn't that another island or somethin?"

Brick looked over to where she was pointing, her magenta nails glistening in the moonlight "Oh, I believe it is, good eye soldier!" he proudly complimented his old teammate on finding the small island.

"Yeah, yeah, whateva." She replied as she and Brick began to swim towards the island. Whilst Brick swam gracefully, clearly refined to swimming from years of practice, Anne Maria had a less graceful technique. She was flapping her arms and legs about like a flamingo with a broken knee. This was attracting the attention of the nearby fish, who did not appreciate being woken up. Bubbles began to appear on the surface of the water behind the two ex-competitors.

"Erm, Anne Maria, you might want to keep it down. Try using only your feet to kick, and instead of rotating your arms, try and move them in a motion as if you were reaching forward, and don't lift them so high" Brick instructed her as the bubbles got closer and closer. "Besides, I thought someone as tanned as you must have a good swimming technique, with how much time you must spend at the beach."

Anne Maria growled at the athletic teen "First of all shut ya mouth, second of all I go to the beach to tan ya idiot, not to swim, it's too cold and the water would just wash my tan right off." She continued to flap her arms and legs, though realizing her mistake she added, "I mean, I wouldn't be able to catch the sun at all because I would be under da water, duh." She rolled her eyes once again.

Eventually, the bubbles reached directly behind the two unsuspecting teens. All of sudden, a gigantic shadow emerged from the depths below, teeth bared and jaw wide open. It was fang, and he was pissed from having been woken up from his dream of eating Scott. Brick and Anne Maria looked behind them, terrified at the sight of the menacing beast from below. As quick as they could, they sped towards the island, which was less than fifteen meters away.

Despite her efforts, Anne Maria was not fast enough to get away from the intimidating beast; using its short arms, it reached forward and grabbed her leg. She kicked at it as hard as she could, "Get offa me ya overgrown fish!"

Hearing her cries, Brick turned around instantly. "Never leave a man behind!" he called out, turning around to help the trapped teen. Fearful yet determined, Brick punched the creature's arm with all his strength, freeing Anne Maria's leg, allowing her to swim away. Brick followed closely behind. Thankfully, the swashing water hid the fact that he had just peed his pants.

Finally, they both made it to shore. Turning around, they were able to focus on the monster's silhouette in the light of the moon. "Hey, aren't you da shark that lost one of ya teeth?" Anne Maria questioned. Indeed in the pale light, both teens could make out the gap in the mutated shark's mouth. "An why did ya grab me just now? Scared da heck outta me!" she barked at the shark. Glaring at her, he put his arm in front of his wide mouth and made a shushing motion. Following that, he dived back beneath the water, satisfied with his warning.

"Are ya kiddin me!" she shouted at the shark, although he didn't hear her as he had already swum away.

"I did tell you to be quie- "

"Don't even think about finishin that sentence Brick." She interrupted the soldier, "But, thank ya for savin me and everythin. I woulda been fish food if it weren't for ya." She thanked her savior, who smiled bashfully next to her.

"All in a day's work ma'am, just sticking to my code" Brick replied confidently. They both sat down on a nearby log, still reeling from the shark's sudden appearance. Water was dripping from them as their clothes were completely soaked. Anne Maria's make-up was slowly cascading down her face and Brick's boots were filled with water. As Anne Maria whipped out her hairspray from her pouf, Brick calmly stated "I'm going to collect some firewood, who knows how long we'll be out here. Plus, I don't want to be in the d-d-dark for too long. Will you be fine here?"

"I will be once I'm dry and got my pouf a bit higher." She casually replied, applying even more hairspray to her hair. Brick glanced at her one last time before slowly edging out into the dark forest. He was trembling in fear from the darkness. Anne Maria noticed this and thought about all that he had done for her in the last half-an-hour. "Actually, Brick, would it be all right if I helped out too?" she asked the cowering teen.

He quickly spun around, "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" he ran up and hugged the surprised Jersey reject. Realizing what he was doing, he stood up straight, "I mean, I appreciate your help ma'am." He blushed as Anne Maria giggled.

"That's alright, Doll." She replied, getting up and following Brick into the woods. By this time, the sky was jet black, and a harsh wind whispered in the air, creating a supernatural atmosphere. The ground crunched underfoot as the two teens wove through the labyrinth of trees. An owl with two heads flew past Brick's head as he was bending over to grab some firewood.

"Ah! What was that! I just felt something touch my head!" He turned around, trying to see what it was, but it was near impossible in the darkness. It hooted shrilly above, causing Brick to look up. Sweat began to trickle down his forehead as his teeth chattered.

"Sounds like an owl ta me, I wouldn't worry about it." Anne Maria stated, who was collecting firewood nearby. "You get scared really easily, don't ya, how come?" she asked whilst Brick tried to calm his nerves.

"I-I'm not scared, just cautious, that's all." Brick acknowledged. Whilst Brick bent down to pick up another piece of firewood, Anne Maria crept up behind him and gently tapped him on the back. He shot up and raised his arms, dropping all his firewood in the process, "Ah! Whatever you are, take what you want, just don't hurt us!" he screamed.

Anne Maria rolled her eyes and handed Brick back his firewood off the ground. "Brick, ever since we walked into da forest, you've been shiverin and sweatin, and just now when I tapped ya on da back, ya nearly fainted. So, how come ya so scared?" she persisted.

After a while. Brick sighed and finally gave in, "It's the dark. Ever since I can remember I've been afraid of it. I had to sleep with a night light in my room all through high school. Even when I stayed with other guys at military camp. They would constantly torment me for it…" Tears had welled up in the corners of Brick's eyes, "They would call me weak, and a baby because I couldn't sleep without it. Once, a few of them grabbed me, and threw me in a closet and locked the door behind me and turned off the lights." Tears were now freely falling down his face, "I kept on banging on the door, begging for them to let me out, but all I could hear was them laughing on the other side. I was left there for two days until the janitor finally heard me when he was cleaning nearby. The other guys hadn't even realized I had gone…"

"Whoa…" Anne Maria was stunned as Brick was telling her all this. When he was finished, she slowly walked forward, placed her firewood on the ground and gently hugged Brick as he continued to cry. "It's alright Doll, just let it all out." They stood like that for a while as the sensitive teen let out all that he had kept inside back on Camp Wawanakwa.

Once Brick's crying had gotten quieter, she led him back to their makeshift campsite, holding one of his trembling hands in one hand, and a bundle of sticks in the other. They both placed their sticks in a circular pattern on the ground. Brick quietly whispered, "My mum taught me how to light a fire a while ago, on our first camping trip together." He quickly got a small fire started, which grew in size as Anne Maria placed more firewood on top of it.

"Hey Brick, thanks for trusting me enough to tell me about ya past." Anne Maria sincerely told Brick, "Ya know, back at on da island, I never really thought much of ya," she continued, which made Brick laugh quietly to himself, "But now, I really think of ya as a friend." She looked up and could see his eyes water once again.

Brick raised his arm in a salute as she said this, "You have no idea how much that means to me ma'am, er, Anne Maria, I also consider you to be a close friend after today. Back home, I don't really have that many friends."

Anne Maria was shocked to hear this, "Well then, when we go back after da season ends, I have got to introduce ya to everyone back home, we can throw a party!"

Brick sighed sweetly, "I'd like that very much, thank you, Anne Maria."

They indulged in a comfortable silence for a while. Only the sound the calming flames from the fire and crickets hidden in the grass could be heard. Their clothes had now fully dried, and they were much warmer now than they had been earlier in the evening.

"Yo! Is anyone out there?" A voice suddenly called out from the direction of the lake.

"I'm sure they're nearby, my fair Leshawna." A second, raspier voice could be heard, coming from the same direction. Brick stomped out the fire as both teens ran towards the sound of the voices. At the shore, they found a boat with two people onboard. "Ah there you two are, I told you they'd be out here, didn't I?" Declared the skinnier of the two.

The rounder one was swift to roll her eyes, "You sure did, sugar." All four of the teens were now staring at each other, "Ya'll gonna get on any time today, or do you wanna spend some more time in the middle of wherever this is?" This prompted Brick and Anne Maria to climb aboard the small ship.

"Hey, I remember you two, you were on last season, right?" Inquired Anne Maria.

"Indeed, my name is Harold, and this is the fair Leshawna." Leshawna once again rolled her eyes as Harold continued, "all of the first cast are staying at Playa de Losers, which is where you'll also be staying. We were meant to be picking you up at the same landing point as everyone else, but the weight distribution was completely different with two people on the catapult, I mean gosh, does Chris even care abou- "

"Harold honey, steer the boat, would you? Requested Leshawna politely. Harold smiled as he steered the boat back to Playa de Losers, "Sorry about him, anyway, I'll explain what you can do at Playa when we arrive, for now just enjoy the ride, you've been through a lot." With that, she joined Harold at the ship's wheel.

Both of the second cast teens sat on the deck on the boat, too exhausted to continue standing. A soft breeze blew onto their faces as the ship moved slowly across the surface of Lake Wawanakwa. "Hey, Anne Maria, what were you planning on spending the million dollars on? Brick questioned her.

"Well, obviously tons of hairspray and make-up, after that, I would probably throw a party with it – it would be the biggest party in Canada!" she giggled to herself. "What about you Brick?"

"Um," he slowly answered, "I would use the money to put myself through fashion school." Anne Maria was shocked to hear this, especially considering Brick's military background. "I've decided that maybe the military isn't really for me, but I do really enjoy talking about fashion with other people. In fact, I was wondering if tomorrow, you'd like to talk about what kind of clothes you like to wear, and possibly look through clothing magazines. I mean, only if you want to, it would really help as I don't have any friends to talk about fashion with…"

Anne Maria smiled, "Of course Doll, that sounds wonderful." With that, they went into a comfortable silence as they leaned against each other on the deck of the boat. The air was silent as the water swayed lazily under the glow of the moon. The surface of Lake Wawanakwa was painted in a glorious glow as it reflected the millions of stars in the crowded, luminescent sky.

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 **Authors note:** Hope you enjoyed!


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